Faceless Bureaucrat: During my lifetime as a Faceless Bureaucrat I've often reflected on initiatives I've led and dwelt long and hard on why something was so tough to achieve or, on occasion, what did I do right that led to the success.
One of my formative experiences was leading a reorganisation of NHS trusts on behalf of the health authority I worked for. Although I had a personal view about how things should turn out I set that to one side and took a more facilitative role as I knew this was what was expected. I didn't resist when it became clear that the power in the system would lead to a different outcome to that which I personally preferred. I let it happen and I did my best to enable it smoothly and with maximum support and justification.
You could say I sold out.
My boss was very pleased with my work and told me how many senior managers and clinicians had commented on how well I'd managed the process. I learnt from this that I am but small fry and by emotionally detaching from the outcome of a process I can do a "good job".
To be honest, it wasn't with my natural inclination. Following that job I moved briefly into the civil service and learnt what it was to become completely detached from the end goal (that's the job of politicians after all).
But within a year I was back in the service nailing my colours to a mast, getting emotionally involved in pioneering and advocating service changes and continued to do so for the next 10 years or so. One of my favourite quotes I used at the time was Professor Dumbledore's "There comes a time when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy" (from Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire). This quote sustained me during some difficult times when I was sticking my neck out against the dominant bureaucracy because I believed what I was championing was right. I had mixed results for my efforts - sometimes I lost the battle but strangely was awarded a high performance bonus all the same and other times I won the battle but felt the force of the organisation weighing in against me.
It seems in the NHS that when you're managing change if you want an easy life you stick with where the power lies but if you want to follow what you consider the right path, ie allow yourself to be emotionally attached to the outcome - beware that if you win the bureaucracy will find some way to get its own back.
Bad Assed Trader: I reflect on the issue of emotional attachment because I have learnt that there is no place for it in trading. It is clearly an inclination of mine - to attach myself with passion to what I do - but I have to learn that the passion in trading has to be focused on the improvement of one's trading overall rather than getting attached to any one trade and therefore ignoring the mounting evidence that the trade is going against you. The best traders feel nothing at pulling out ruthlessly from a failing trade. I am still cutting my teeth on this one.
The transition from impassioned and embattled NHS manager to ruthless, bad assed trader requires some significant exorcism and transformation.
One of my formative experiences was leading a reorganisation of NHS trusts on behalf of the health authority I worked for. Although I had a personal view about how things should turn out I set that to one side and took a more facilitative role as I knew this was what was expected. I didn't resist when it became clear that the power in the system would lead to a different outcome to that which I personally preferred. I let it happen and I did my best to enable it smoothly and with maximum support and justification.
You could say I sold out.
My boss was very pleased with my work and told me how many senior managers and clinicians had commented on how well I'd managed the process. I learnt from this that I am but small fry and by emotionally detaching from the outcome of a process I can do a "good job".
To be honest, it wasn't with my natural inclination. Following that job I moved briefly into the civil service and learnt what it was to become completely detached from the end goal (that's the job of politicians after all).
But within a year I was back in the service nailing my colours to a mast, getting emotionally involved in pioneering and advocating service changes and continued to do so for the next 10 years or so. One of my favourite quotes I used at the time was Professor Dumbledore's "There comes a time when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy" (from Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire). This quote sustained me during some difficult times when I was sticking my neck out against the dominant bureaucracy because I believed what I was championing was right. I had mixed results for my efforts - sometimes I lost the battle but strangely was awarded a high performance bonus all the same and other times I won the battle but felt the force of the organisation weighing in against me.
It seems in the NHS that when you're managing change if you want an easy life you stick with where the power lies but if you want to follow what you consider the right path, ie allow yourself to be emotionally attached to the outcome - beware that if you win the bureaucracy will find some way to get its own back.
Bad Assed Trader: I reflect on the issue of emotional attachment because I have learnt that there is no place for it in trading. It is clearly an inclination of mine - to attach myself with passion to what I do - but I have to learn that the passion in trading has to be focused on the improvement of one's trading overall rather than getting attached to any one trade and therefore ignoring the mounting evidence that the trade is going against you. The best traders feel nothing at pulling out ruthlessly from a failing trade. I am still cutting my teeth on this one.
The transition from impassioned and embattled NHS manager to ruthless, bad assed trader requires some significant exorcism and transformation.
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